From Thirdage.com

Take a Vacation Without Blowing Your Diet By Bev Bennett Coauthor of Barron's Dictionary of Healthful Food Terms (Barron's, 1997)

Who wants to spend their summer vacation counting calories? But if you're not careful, your summer trip can put you in the fast lane to dietary ruin.

With a little planning, you can have the indulgent foods you want and still stick to a diet plan. But you'll still have to be mindful of what you eat.

"If you treat every meal as an indulgence -- 'I'm on vacation and can eat what I want' -- you can put on considerable weight," said Barbara J. Rolls, Ph.D., coauthor of The Volumetrics Weight-Control Plan: Feel Full on Fewer Calories (HarperCollins, 2000) and a professor in the Department of Nutrition at Penn State University.

Rolls often shops for food when she takes car trips. "Having three restaurant meals a day is pretty tedious," she says. "I try to find a grocery store and get foods for a picnic instead."

She recommends keeping nutritious snacks and water in the car. Forget about loading up with sugary soft drinks; that's an easy way for calories to mount.

Eating out is a challenge on the road. You may know the low-calorie foods in your favorite hometown restaurants, but you're looking at unfamiliar menus now. If you select a buffet restaurant, Rolls suggests putting a generous portion of salad greens on your plate and using the more fattening offerings -- cheeses or meats or mayonnaise-based macaroni salads -- as "samplings."

Of course, your vacation plans may include fine dining, and if so, make those meals the culinary focal points of your day, she says. Don't have a big lunch if you're planning to indulge at dinner.

If you're traveling with children, chances are you'll have many meals at fast-food restaurants. You'll need a strategy if you want to stick to your diet.

"Choose the small hamburger, not the large size," advises Melanie Polk, director of nutrition education for the American Institute of Cancer Research in Washington, D.C. You can get the meaty taste you crave while saving more than 100 calories.

"It's tempting to go for the larger size. For five cents more, maybe you can get double the fries. But just because it's cheaper doesn't mean you have to do it."

When you're ordering sandwiches at a deli, ask for extra lettuce and tomatoes, Polk says. You'll feel full and get nutrients in the vegetables.

Here are some additional tips for eating when you travel:

1. Pack your own food, or order a low-calorie meal in advance for a flight.

2. In a restaurant, drink a glass of water before you order so you feel more full.

3. Start a restaurant meal with a clear soup, or a salad with the dressing on the side.

4. If you want to splurge in a fast-food restaurant, choose one high-fat item -- the fries or the shake -- and order salad as an accompaniment.

(c) 2001, Bev Bennett, Los Angeles Times Syndicate

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This proves it -- a diet doesn't have to be onerous. Lose weight while eating the foods you like.

-- Anonymous, June 09, 2001